Luke Macfarlane and Partner Hig Roberts.Photo:Courtesy of Luke Macfarlane and Hig Roberts
Courtesy of Luke Macfarlane and Hig Roberts
Luke Macfarlaneis gearing up for the 2023 New York City Marathon to raise awareness for people living with diabetes.
TheBrosstar and his partnerHig Roberts, sports agent and former alpine skier, recently opened up to PEOPLE about the emotional reason they’re tackling their first marathon together.
“Never thought I would do it, to tell you the truth,” Macfarlane says jokingly about the race.
The 43-year-old actor says that while it’s fun for them to share this physical goal, the pair — who recentlywelcomed their first child— is participating in honor of Roberts’ late brother.
“Getting to know Hig and his family was a lot about learning family history, like you do, including about his younger brother who passed away seven years ago from type 1 diabetes,” he tells PEOPLE. “So we’re running this marathon to raise money for type 1 diabetes.”
Roberts’ younger brother, Murphy, was just a preteen when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes — which means his body createdvery little or no insulin, requiring medication. Signs of type 1 diabetes in children tend to develop quickly,according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms include weight loss, extreme hunger, increased thirst and frequent urination, fatigue, and behavior changes.
“My little brother Murphy was just 11 and it’s a pretty cruel disease as a young person to be diagnosed with,” Roberts, 32, tells PEOPLE. “He had to live basically getting injections of insulin every two hours during the day.”
Hig Roberts' late brother Murphy.Courtesy of Luke Macfarlane and Hig Roberts
In August 2016, Murphy died at age 22 after he had diabetic seizure while on a hike, fell and sustained a head injury. The accident was tragic and hard on Roberts, but pushed him and his family to “join charities and fundraise money for finding a cure for this disease.”
Now as he kicks off November’s Diabetes Awareness Month, Roberts, his twin sister Cassady, and Macfarlane will run theTCS New York City Marathonon Nov. 5 as members of the charity teamBeyond Type 1.
“I think as a family, we just try to remember Murphy through things like this and connect with the type 1 community,” Roberts says. “And this organization raises a lot of awareness for helping young kids who have diabetes stay active and live normal lives, which tends to not be the case. So the people we’re actually running the marathon with, I would say over 50% of them are type 1 diabetics, which is pretty remarkable.”
“And Luke has been very gracious to use his network to help us connect with as many people as possible and fundraise as much money as possible,” he adds.
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Luke Macfarlane and Partner Hig Roberts.Courtesy of Luke Macfarlane and Hig Roberts
Macfarlane announced on hisfunraise.orgpage that he was running the marathon and raising money for Beyond Type 1, encouraging his followers to help donate in honor of Murphy. TheHallmarkactor’s goal is set to $10,000, which he’s already surpassed ahead of Sunday’s race.
“It’s an honor to recognize Hig’s brother, somebody I never got to meet but somebody that’s so important to Hig and his journey and development,” Macfarlane says. “Just to get a chance to honor him and show my love for Hig and his family.”
While this will be the couple’s first marathon, Roberts says his sister Cassady has run five marathons herself, all of which have been related to raising money for diabetes research and outreach.
Macfarlane and Roberts say they’re excited to do the same, and have some fun in the process.
“Hig and I are very competitive with each other so I think we’re going to definitely push each other to achieve the highest possible race time, let’s be honest,” he says.
“But the goals are to finish strongly, don’t injure ourselves too much and let the professionals really take the 1, 2, 3 spots. I don’t think we’re going to be breaking any records,” Macfarlane adds with a laugh.
source: people.com
